Waste Audit Introduction

Priscilla Hayes
Solid Waste Resource Renewal
Group
 What is a Waste Audit?
• Discover what waste you
generate
• What are you not recycling—
you will find things you don’t
expect
• Review purchasing and
management decisions
• How to reduce waste
• How to recycle more—what
bins are needed, where, what
systems to put into place, what
training is needed
Why a Waste Audit?
• Saving money on
costly disposal
• Regulatory
Requirements
• Reducing waste and
thus disposal costs
• Positive
environmental
company image
 Designate a Leader
• Establish a team, size
depending on the
company size
• Familiar with
company
• Incorporate opinions
from whole company
• Short/long term goals
• Notify all employees
• Monitor waste over
time
Gather Facility-Specific Info

• Examine facility
records
• Track inventory to
determine what is used
• Determine hazardous
materials
• Repair invoices
• Waste removal
invoices
• Recycling contracts
Facility Walk Through
• What waste produced
• Waste producing
activities
• Spot inefficiencies
• Layout of operations
• Waste disposal space
• Current waste efforts
• Interview employees
 Evaluation and Monitoring

• Evaluate how to incorporate

the results of the audit into
waste/recycling changes
• Equipment requirements
• Space requirements
• Operation requirements
• Signage requirements
• Training requirements
• Motivating individual
participation in changed
system
Identify Source Reduction
Possibilities
• Paper
• Packaging
• Equipment
• Landscaping
• Purchasing
• Over-stocked items
• Food
• Consumer Choices
 Two Ways of Doing a Waste Audit Which
Reveal Somewhat Different Things
• Audit only the things which are currently not
being recycled—this involves going through
trash bags and separating everything from
there—this will show you a lot about things that
are already recyclable that you are losing to
trash
• Have temporary bins set up for each material
you want to capture; this is cleaner but requires
a lot of bin supervision or buy in from the entire
facility—this is our recommendation for audits
which are particularly focused on food waste or
on materials you are not already recycling
ONLINE AT
http://www.swrrg.rutgers.edu/
audits.html
 Waste Sort Inspection

• Physically sort
waste and
determine
percentage makeup
• Types of waste
• Disposal problems
• Special equipment
• Waste removal
• Recycling info
Ultimate Temporary Bin Sort—
Whole Earth Center, Princeton
WASTE AUDITS
Students Do A Waste Audit
Individuals Getting Into Waste
Audits
 What you as a Wastewise Business can do—Evaluate
Your Collection and Hauling Systems

• Calculate how much waste, by tonnage and volume is

being collected, and how
• If food waste and other waste organics were separated,
what would be left? Can the collection or hauling system
be changed? Reduce frequency, change size of
containers?
• Build a system which will give you the utmost benefit
from recycling food waste. This usually means
contracting directly with the recycling market for food
waste for tipping fee price, and then with the hauler for
hauling costs only. Separate out the handling of the
separate parts of your waste stream so that there is not
a commingling of costs.
AFTER THE WASTE
AUDIT—SOME
SYSTEM
RECONFIGURATIONS:
HYATT REGENCY
PRINCETON
Opportunity to Choose Containers
Reconfiguring Bins
 Innovative Follow Up
• See the WasteWise Resource Management Guide at
http://www.epa.gov/osw/partnerships/wastewise/wrr/rm.h
tm.
• Consider using a Request for Information sent out to
haulers/recycling markets to determine how they could
be partners in your enhanced recylcing system.
• Require your hauler/markets to give you specific data on
what is recycled on at least a quarterly basis. This will
allow you to assess your progress, and have data for
Wastewise forms.
 More Innovation: Whole Earth Center—
Using A Waste Audit to Get LEED Credits
• Most complete waste audit we ever did, with the most
categories for sorting
• Recommended by architect to get additional LEED
credits for their green building renovation (EB)
• Discovered that they were already recycling (with a little
tweaking) 68.63% of their waste stream
• Found two major categories, wooden crates, and waxy
cardboard, which would give them an additional 18.64%
being recycled
• Looking for the right markets for these
 Priscilla E. Hayes, Esq., Program Coordinator
Solid Waste Resource Renewal Group
Turning Waste Into New Products Through Innovation and Policy Change
Proud Winner of 2009 USEPA Environmental Quality Award

c/o Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics

Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
55 Dudley Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520
732-932-9155, ext. 233
Fax: 732-932-8887
hayes@aesop.rutgers.edu

Please visit our websites:

http://swrrg.rutgers.edu
http://enviropurchasing.rutgers.edu